Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Seoul gov't to shut down support centers for social minorities amid budget cut
Seoul Woman Craft Center in Seoul's northeastern Nowon District / Courtesy of Seoul Woman Craft Center
By Lee Hae-rin
The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s recent decision to cut spending by discontinuing public services and support centers for women, people with disabilities and a low-income group is sparking criticism that it runs counter to the policy direction of embracing social minorities.
Earlier this month, the city government sent an official notice to 16 residency member companies of the Seoul Woman Craft Center in northeastern Seoul ordering them to move out by the end of February next year, 10 months before their contracts expire.
“The 16 members at the center were promised to extend the residency membership to Dec. 31 next year after evaluations. However, the Seoul government suddenly told us to move out by February, putting member companies and center operators at risk of losing our jobs,” the emergency response committee of the center’s member companies told The Korea Times, Tuesday.
Established in 2017, the center has served to incubate and support female craftspeople here, mostly women seeking to end career breaks through entrepreneurship, by providing low-cost working space and equipment, along with a workshop and exhibitions for the public.
However, the city decided to make a sharp cut to the program's budget from 1.8 billion won ($1.3 million) to some 300 million won, citing an economic revitalization project planned for the district.
The committee urged the city government to restore the budget cuts or provide alternative public services to the residency members as promised through due procedures.
Seoul’s public nighttime pharmacies are also on the verge of closing down due to budget cuts.
There are currently 33 pharmacies in the capital — averaging one or two pharmacies in each of the 25 districts — that operate from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., 365 nights a year, including weekends and public holidays.
Since September 2020, the city government has funded about half of the nighttime personnel expenses of these pharmacies, which serve as affordable alternatives to emergency rooms for those in urgent need of medicine. The number of pharmaceutical purchases here continues to rise, from 45,000 in 2020 to 178,000 in 2021 and finally 203,000 last year.
The Korean Pharmaceutical Association condemned the city’s decision to suddenly cut the entire budget to operate public night pharmacies and said it is a “step backward in solving the financial difficulties of ordinary people who can’t afford to go to emergency rooms.”
The city government refuted that these 33 pharmacies take a mere 19 percent of the city’s 177 late-night pharmacies while claiming that people can still get emergency medicines such as antipyretic, digestive and cold medicine at convenience stores open around the clock throughout the city.
In response to continued criticisms that followed despite the city’s explanation, the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to urgently allocate funds from the budget to continue the operations of public late-night pharmacies by January next year, with no further budget allocation proposed for the rest of 2024.
The Seoul Braille Library will also shut down by the end of December, while the Seoul Acceleration Center for Gender Equity is to be closed in June next year due to budget cuts.